Steubenville: Dean Martin Mecca

Steubenville, Ohio is dwindling, from losses of population, steel industry jobs, and even its title of "sin city" is gone.

But there's one thing no one can ever take away: Steubenville is — and always will be — the proud birthplace of the late, great Dean Martin, or Dino Crochetti, as he was known here. It's one thing they can and do celebrate at the annual Dean Martin festival. People come from all over the world to pay homage to the entertainment legend.

Rose Angelica, devoted keeper of the flame, shows off the historic sites.

"This is Dean Martin's lot where his house was where he was born," she told Sunday Morning correspondent Bill Geist. "We mark that every year for the fans that come in they make their pilgrimage there. They take blades of grass with them and dirt to save from his lot."

"That's Dean Martin's church where he was an altar boy. He was baptized there and he was in the boy scouts they had their meeting there in the church basement," she said. "Troop number 10."

Angelica said Martin's famous song "That's Amore," is the town's "national anthem."

Fans visit Denovo's Dodge dealership. It's a repository of significant Dean Martin photos. One of the photos dates from 1939; it is of Joe Denovo and Dean Martin.

On the wall of Kroger's supermarket, Dean Martin stands two stories tall, but the artist did not include Dean's ubiquitous highball, which was just part of Martin's shtick.

"It actually was apple juice, Martinellis by the way, Angelica said. "Martinellis that's the brand he used."

One of the things that made Martin so special, was that he was the "only entertainer to have a hit record, a hit TV show and a hit movie out all at the same time," Angelica said.

"Not even Elvis did that or Frank Sinatra," she said.

Martin made 55 films, 16 with Jerry Lewis. He had his own TV variety show. He recorded hundreds of songs and was known as the Beatles buster, able to knock even the Fab Four from the top of the charts.

"The Spot" bar is a Dino landmark where he was the singer and croupier of the craps game in the back room. He sang there and ate at the Naples spaghetti house and his fans still do. Angelica said it's easy to understand why Martin was so cool, just look at where he grew up.

"Everybody in Steubenville's cool," she said. "We're so cool here. This is coolville."

Dino was considered the coolest member of the ultra-cool rat pack. Sinatra: hot. Dean: cool.

"I remember when he introduced me to Elvis Presley, And Elvis says, 'You know, they call me the King of Rock and Roll. But your Father is the King of Cool,'" Martin's daughter Deana Martin said. "And I went 'Oh my gosh! Elvis Presley said that Dad's the King of Cool!' But we all knew that he was the King of Cool. He was cool at home."

There were other royals at the festival, like cousin Archie, who everybody says is the spitting image of Dino.

"I'm older than him I'd say he looks like me," Archie Crochetti said. "He had a pretty big nose at one time then he got it doctored up a little bit."

But it was princess Deana, who reigned over all Steubenville, signing her book and CD at Krogers.

Later, Deana sang her father's songs in a lavish production, performing before a house packed with fans. Angelica said the town is almost a cult of Dino.

"Some people have basically real shrines in their homes," she said. "They have candles with pictures on the walls."